Ever notice how some of the “regulars” at the gym never seem to improve?  They come in, sometimes daily, and like clockwork go through their workout routine exactly the way every time.  Sure, they’re working hard and they really do work up a sweat.  They just never seem to build any muscle or drop any fat.  Ever wonder why that is?

Well, I’ve got the answer and as it turns out, the cure to this problem is pretty simple.  If you pay attention to this one principle, your workouts will be much more effective and you’ll begin to notice significant changes in your physique within 3-4 weeks.

Anyone in the medical profession can tell you that the human body is extremely adaptable.  It will usually respond to any kind of physical demand or stress, like a warehouse worker lifting heavy crates for example, by building additional muscle as well as by learning how to use those muscles more efficiently.  Eventually, the warehouse worker can lift heavy crates all day long without tiring – and develops an impressive set of biceps to prove it.

However, when we try to get those same “warehouse worker arms” in the gym, the results are usually not the same, even with all the fancy machines.  Why not?  Well, the human body can adapt pretty quickly to any change in demand placed upon it but once it has adapted, it kind of takes it easy expending only enough energy to meet the new demand.  It’s like taking your car out on the highway.  When you’re just starting out and accelerating, your engine is working really hard.  But once you’ve reached highway speeds, the engine settles down to a more constant level.

So why can the warehouse worker build massive muscle just by doing his or her job (hope you appreciate the gender neutrality )and we can’t seem to do the same in the gym?  Mainly because of the way the warehouse worker’s job is structured, which in turn is related to how often and when their body is subjected to increased physical activity.  For example, they may be sweeping the warehouse first thing in the morning until the first truck comes in to be unloaded.  Then they’re working hard for a solid hour unloading the truck before going back to the office to complete the paperwork.  An hour later, another truck comes in, only this time, the crates are different sizes and weights.

The point is that a warehouse worker’s body does not know when it will be subjected to increased demands since the trucks come in at different times.    It also gets subjected to different loads since some trucks contain crates of breakfast cereal and others contain crates of auto brake pads.  Their body is being subjected to a variety of physical demands and therefore, has to build a “strength reserve” (in other words, more muscle) in order to be able to meet the wide range of demands.

On the other hand, when we go to the gym to do our “usual” workout, our body “knows” that we’re going to do 3 sets of 10 reps using 30 pound weights.  How predictable.  So of course the body only develops enough muscle to handle exactly 3 sets of 10 reps with 30 pounds.  Once it’s done that, there’s no reason to develop any more muscle.

Changing up your routine and subjecting your body to a variety of activities so that it continues to develop is the whole idea of the “FITT principle.”  Developed by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), FITT stands for:

• Frequency – how often you exercise, which includes how often you rest between exercise sessions.
• Intensity – how hard you exercise.
• Time – how long you exercise.
• Type – the type of exercise you choose to do.

If you consider a typical workout routine, most of us have unconsciously kept most, if not all, of these variables constant.  We tend to go through our workout without thinking – and that means we do exactly 10 minutes on the treadmill followed by exactly 10 reps on the leg curl machine set at the exact same weight we did the last time, followed by exactly … (yawn!)

So even though we finish our workout really tired, we really didn’t build any muscle or drop any fat.  Sure, we worked some cardio so the heart and lungs might have improved, but little else.  The real key to success is to change your “routine” so that it’s anything but routine.

You do that by taking any of the FITT variables and changing them from one routine to the next.  For example:

• Frequency – instead of doing 2 hard workouts a week, do 4 easy or medium ones; or instead of going in the evening, go in the morning.
• Intensity – vary the weight or resistance from one workout to another.
• Time – slow or increase your tempo when you workout.
• Type – change the type of exercises from one workout to another.  If you always do shoulders followed by arms, switch the order.

In other words, keep your body guessing as to what kind of activity you’re going to ask it to do on every workout.  Not only will you feel like you got a more intense workout (because you did), but your body will begin to change in exactly the way you want it to change:  more tone and muscle mass in the arms and legs in addition to dropping fat around the waist and thighs.

Although you can change any of the FITT variables from workout to workout, I’d recommend changing them from week to week.  For example, focus one week on strength with heavy weights, low reps, slow concentration tempo, and using compound exercises.  The following week, focus on power with lighter weights, high reps, faster tempo, and using isolation exercises.  The next week, focus on endurance.  After 4-6 weeks of this, increase the amount of weight on each exercise by 5-10 pounds and then repeat the entire cycle.

Just as your body starts getting used to one type of routine, bam!  Hit it with a different one!  Before long, you’ll not only have the body you want, you’ll have the gym “regulars” coming by asking how in the world you did it!

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy
Certified Personal Fitness Trainer and Fitness Nutrition Coach (NESTA)

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